Compacting head for wire-covering machines



April 8 1924. 1,489,820

w. E. COOK ET AL COMPA CTING HEAD FOR WIRE COVERING MACHINES Filed Nov.29 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 7v .Z/ Z a 1 Z 0 l p r a W Z k L d 0 mg f iy515%; m @ZKJM April 8 1924'.

- w. E. COOK ET AL commune HEAD FOR WIRE COVERING MACHINES File d Nov.29 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M 1 r I 61 1c ammm Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES -Eur or 1,4 9,320 r ce.

.WILLIAM E. COOK, OF ST. GEORGE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PEERLESSINSULATED WIRE AND CABLE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OFDELAWARE COMPACTING HEAD FOR WIRE-COVERING MACHINES.

Application filed November 29, 1921. Serial No. 518,575.

My invention relates to compacting heads for wire covering machines of atype adapted to apply spirally wound cotton sliver to a conductor wirewhile said wire is having longitudinal traverse through the machine. 'Inmachines of the type above referred to, after the sliver has beenspirally wound upon the wire, the covered wire is passed through acompacting die which is constantly rotated in the, same direction as themeans applying the sliver to the wire so as to smooth down and compactthe sliver and bring the covered wire to approximately the desireddiameter, bindingstrands being applied to the covered wire while thebody of sliver is under compaction. 30 The binding strands abovereferred to may 'be either in the nature of mere confining strands tohold the sliver in proper position upon the wire until after it has beenpassed through a tubular braiding machine,

or as permanent covering strands so as to dispense with the use of theordinary covering braid.

Heretofore with machines of this type,.

the compactingv die has been formed from a solid block, thus causinglikelihood of the stripping of the covering sliver in the event ofsubstantial kinks in the wire. or of localized enlargement of thediameter of the covered wire, as where a splice has been made in thewire or where, as a result of breakage in the sliver or of theapplication of a new length of sliver, a slight lapping of the sliveritself in necessitated.

-This,.lac k of flexibility in the 01d and wellknown formsof compactingdies, has resulted in a substantial reduction in' the capacity of'coveringmachines, since"- any strlpp-i-ngof the sliver ord'isarrangement thereof by the compacting die, necessitates is theinclusion in the oppos ,theshutting down of the machine and thevhand-covering of a portion of the wire. Such hand-covering also entailspossible variations in the condition of the covering at that particularpoint of the wire.

With the above conditions in mind, I have produced a compacting headembodying therein a die including therein opposed members, movabletoward and from each other in a manner to adapt themselves to anyirregularities-in the covered wire, while subjecting'the sliver. on thewire to suflicient pressure under all conditions, to ensure the desiredcompaction of the sliver.

With a head embodyin my invention there is substantially no ikelihood ofa compacting die stripping the sliver from the wire, and in the event ofenlargement in the covered wire due to 9. splice in" the wire itself orslight additional thickness of the sliver, the sliver at this point willbe subjected to slightly greater pressure so that substantial uniformityin the diameter of the covered wire will be maintained, although slightvariances in such diameter are ima manner to practically eliminate suchirregularities.

.The pressure exerted by the compacting head may be regulated to securedifferent densities in the body of covering sliver, which pressureregulating mechanism may be utilized either in setting the machine fordifferent classes of wire or adapting the. compacting head to peculiarworking conditions about the machine due to variances {inatxliie'quality of the wire or of the covering The-construction of the"head is also such that the partsof the die may be separated in theirentirety to permit access to'the wire, within the die, to correctconditions which will not be corrected by the normal, automaticfunctioningof the head.

Another characteristic" of the invention ed members of the die leadinginto the smallest interior diameter thereof, of 1 guide openings for thebindingstrands, whereby these strands will be applied-throughthefexteriorof the cover- ,i g silliver while thexsame is compacted by twith said mechanism, I provide suitable guide means for said strandsformed by said mechanism.

The invention consists primarily in a compacting head for wire coveringmachines embodying therein a rotatable spindle-carr ing platform and adie carried thereby an rotatable therewith including therein opposedmembers movable toward and from each other and having registering,graduated complementary openings therein and a spring rigging operativeupon said members respectively, whereby they will be normally engaged,one with the other, but will automatically separate to accommodate saiddie to irregularities in the diameter of the covered wire; and in suchother novel features of construction and combination of parts as arehereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed outin the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawin Fig. 1 shows a portion of an ordinary coveringmachine carrying a compacting head embodying my inven-.

tlon;

F &g. 2 is a plan view of said compacting hea Fig. 3 is a section on theline 39-3 of Fig.

2 showing the opposed die members in the fully closed position;

F1 4 is a similar view showing said mem rs in an opened position; and

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, I haveindicated at a a portion of the hollow spindle carried by the top frameof a rotating platform carrying the cams containing the cotton sliverwith which a conductor wire is to be. covered. Said spindle a is mountedin a suitable bearing 6 in the. frame of the machine and has keyed orotherwise secured thereto so as to rotate therewith, the head 0 having aplurality of spindles c and tensioning devices a for the binding orconfining strands .6

carried by the spools or cops c. This gen-- eral arrangement is old andwell known in.

in the event of the jamming of the machine,

or the necessity pf getting access tothe wire 1n case of animpropercovering thereof with sliver sometimes due to the impossibilityof checking the machine 'sufiiciently quickly tions includes thereinopposed members f-g which are so mounted on said base as to be movabletoward and from each other in a manner to adapt themselves toirregularities in the covered wire, said members f and 9 being normallyheld in engagement one with the other by means of a spring rigging whichwill be more particularly referred to hereinafter. The purpose of thisgs rigging is to subject the covered wirepass 0 the rotary head 1 ingthrough the die, to suflicient pressure to secure the desired degree ofcompaction of the sliver, while permitting an automatic opening of thedie to prevent the stripping of the sliver from the wire in the event ofvariance in the diameter of the covered wire due to a bunching of thesliver or kinks wire already covered.

The members 7 and 9 have therein the complementary portions f'g of agraduated die opening, which 0 ning merges into a cylindrical opening, te complementary portions F-g are formed in the members f and grespectively. Said cylindrical ord f -g are ad acent the outlet end 0the In actual practice, no such stresses as will result in the openingof the die, will occur adjacent the cylindrical portion -9 of the dieopening, since under'no conditions will the resistance of the sliver besufficiently great to open said die until the mass thereof upon the wirehas been compacted to substantially the maximum extent for which the dieis set. It is apparent that such stresses will have no tendency to openthe die until the covered wire is approaching the point where thegraduated portion of the opening merges into the cylindrical portion ofthe opening, the opening of the die resulting from a wedging action byany enlarged or distorted portion of the covered wire;

The die member'f is pi'votally mounted upon the portion d of-the base bymeans of the pivots 70-h. located adjacent the bot-' tom of said memberso as to ensure an effective leverage of the spring rigging inclosingthe die, and the development b said rigging of a pressurenormally su fic'ient to impart the desired degree of com- 130 v pactionto the sliver. The bottom of said member f is curved as shown at i so asto permit a free pivotal movement of said member, and the face thereofadjacent the member 9 is cut away as shown at f below the point ofpivotal support of the member f so as not to interfere with a freemovement of said member. The member 9 is provided with a similar curvedportion 9 and a sim lar cut-away portion g, being pivoted to the basepart e by means of the pivots a'z".

The member 9 adjacent the pivots i-z" is provided with the oppositelydisposed dowel pins j-j' adapted to enter openings in the member f toensure a proper positioning of these parts in assembling the device andto prevent a loss of register of the portions of the complementaryportions of the die opening as a possible result of a shifting of thepivots of either member due to vibration in and about the machine.

The spring rigging heretofore referred to comprises a bracket 70 securedto the member f and a bracket m secured to the member 9 and oppositelyarranged as to the bracket in. The bracket k has laterally extendingarmsk' 2 carrying pins to which are, attached the springs n'n' respectively,a construction by which said springs have a free ivotal movement withrelation to said racket. The other ends of said springs respectively aresecured to the flattened screws 0-0 which are slidably mounted inopenings in the extensions m'-m" of the brack- .et m.

' Mounted upon the slide screws 0-o' are the hand nuts pp respectivelyby means of which said springs n n' may be tensioned to any desiredextent to develop the desired compacting pressure in the die or offerany desired resistance to the separation of the members f-g.

The brackets km are located adjacent the smallest diameter of thegraduated portion of the die opening since the maximum compactingpressure will be reached adjacent this point.

gree of compaction of the shver will be de- It is apparent that thedetermined by the tension of the springs nn and that the regulation ofthis tension is largely a matter of convenience to adapt the same diefor work with different grades of wires; but where such regulation isnot de sired, the mechanism permitting such regu lation may be dispensedwith.

The manner of mounting the slides o -o' will permit the disconnection ofthe springs *n-n' from the member 9 so that when the bi-part base isused, and it is desired to s'ep-' varate the parts thereof, suchseparation of the parts-d-e and the membei's fg will;

notlbe 'iggai'nst the tension of the springs new; upplementing theaction of the dowels j 7" in securing the desired proper positioning ofthe two members fg, I provide the member c with dowels gg adapt throughwhichthe strands 0 are adapted to pass.

While said strands are normally held taut by the tensioningdevice 0there is a possibility of the strand passing through the opening -rwhich is arranged substantially centrally of and. above the brackets mand k respectively, ballooning so as to become entangled in saidbrackets or the spring mechanism. To obviate difficulty from thissource, I provide the bracket is with a guide opening through which astrand 0 is adapted to pass, and the bracket m with a similar guideopening m through which the strand passing through the diametricallyopposite opening r is adapted to ass.

The conditions are suc that there is little likelihood of other strandsthan those re ferred to being entangled in the spring rigging so thatguides supplementing the other openings r are not required.

The advantages of arranging the openings 1' as shown are that thevarious strands will be accurately and evenly applied to the coveredwire and will be applied thereto while said wire is compacted to themaximum extent. Hence any expansion of the sliver covering after thecovered wire leaves the die defined ducts for the penetration of theasphaltum or other composition into the body of the sliver, and duringthe finishing operation, the expanded portion will be forced to overlaysaid strands so as to thorou hly protect same.

mechanism is substantially as follows In starting a run, of the machine,the usual practlees-are followed, it being possible opening are inclinedguide openings 1 e operation of the herein describedw by separating theparts de" to facilitate the I threading of the strands a through theopenings r and the initial application of the ends of these strands tothe sliver covered wire,. the die members f-g having previouslycompacted the sliver adjacent the discharge end of the die.

To permit the separation of said members f and y and-the parts d and e,the slides;

0- 0 are drawn toward the extensions of the fitting m, elongating thesprings oi'nf sufiicie'ntlyrto permit said ,/slides "to jbe mo'vedlaterally from within the open slots ofsaid extensions m mfi'.

If it be found that the pressure from the spring rigging is insufficientto hold the die members f-g closed, the tension of the springs n-n' maybe increased by means of t e nuts pp', or ifit be desired to increasethe density of the sliver coverin this result may be secured byincreasing t e thickness of the sliver applied to the-wire and increas-1 ing the tension of the springs 'n,-n'.

In the event of the occurrence in the covered wire of a short length ofincreased diameter or of a lateral distortion of the wire, whichincreased bulk will preclude the passa e of this portion of the wirethrough the cy 'ndrical portion f g the wedging action between thisportion of the wire and the walls of theopening f--g adjacent the pointwhere it merges into the cylindrical portion fil-g, will automaticallyoscillate the mem rs fg against the tension of the springs 0L-It so asto permit the passage of this portion of the wire from the die withoutapplying suchlongitudinal stresses to Y the covering sliveras will tendto strip the erl a plied enters the die, the parts lc e membersfg may beseparated," -v

sliver from the wire. I

' The turning movement of the die greatly facilitates this wedgingaction without likelihood of any stripping action upon the sliver. Thebindin or covering strands a will be applied to t e large portion of thecovered wire in the same manner as .to portions thereof of normaldiameter.

Instantl with thepassa ofthe enlarged portion oi the covered wire fromthe die, the s rings nn. will close the die members and immediatelyfollowingvsuch closure, it will resume its normal functioning, therotation of the die andthe pressure of the springs havin the efi'ect ofcom leting the compaction .0 wire which passed through the graduatedopenin'gj g' while the members f-g have been 0 'ned. c v

If, uring a run of the machine, one of the stri s of the sliver, a'fpluralit ofsuch strips eing ordinarilyemploye should break .orbecomeexhaust'ed, and the portion of thewire upon which sliver is notprop the portion of t e covered Yopenings into whic meaaao her, asheretofore described, is particularly adapted for use with high speedcovering machines, since with the elimination of ossibility of strippingby reason of irregu arities vin the diameter of the covered wire, thereis practicall no limitation upon the speed of the mac ine growing out ofthe functionin of the compacting head. Furthermore, t e compacting headmay be so set as to adapt it to the covering of wires wherein theinsulating body of shver has difierent degrees of compaction, the springtension required with less lightly covered wires not belng so great asthat required wherein a greater density of the sliver is required.

-It is apparent that one die is not adapted for the production of wiresof different diameters, the variation in the tension of the springs nn'being primarily for the purose of controlling the density of thecovering sliver rather than the outside diameter of the covered wire.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details ofconstruction shown in the accompanying drawings, it being ap arent thatsuch may be varied without .eparting from the spirit andscope of theinvention.

Having described the invention, what I .claim as new and desire to haveprotected by Letters Patent, is

1. A compaetin head for wire covering machines embodylng therein arotatable spindle-carrying platform and a die carried t ereby androtatable therewith including therein 0 posed members havingregistering, gra uated complementary openings therein, means pivotallysupporting said members adjacent the larger ortions of said openings,whereby the smal er portions of said openings ma have movement towardand from each at er, and a spring rigging o rative upon said membersrespectively asiacent the smaller portions of said openings, whereby thewill be normally engaged, one with t e other, but will automaticallyseparate to accommodate said die to irregularities in the diameter ofthe covered wire.

2. A compacting head for wire covering machines embodying therein arotatable s indie-car ing platform and a die carried t ereby anrotatable therewith including therein 0 posed members havingregistering, gra uated ycom'plement'ary openings therein andcomplementary cyllndrical ings merge, meanspivotally supporting saidsaid graduated open- I machines embodying therein a rotatable graduatedcomplementa and complementary cy in rical openings spindle-car ingplatform and a die carried thereby an rotatable therewith includintherein opposed members movable towa and from each other and havingregistering, o nings therein into which'said graduated openings merge,said members each having openings therethrough communicating withrsaidcyhndri-i cal openings, whereby strands may be passed therethrough andbe wound upon the covered wire while held compacted within the die,

and a sprin ri ging o erative upon said members resectvely, w ereby theywill be. normally engaged, one with the other, but will automaticallyseparate to accommodate said die to irregularities in the diameter ofthe covered wire.

' 4. A compacting head for wire covering machines embodying therein arotatable spindle-carrying platform and a die carried t ereby androtatable therewith including therein a bi-part base, means whereby theseparation of the parts of said base is permitted, a die member mounteduon each of said parts to have movement t erewith and also to havemovement toward and from each other independently thereof, said membershaving registering, graduated complementary openings therein, a springri ging operative upon each of said members, w ere-. by they will .benormallyengaged one with the other but will automatically separate toaccommodate saiddie to irregularities in the diameter of a coveredwire,and means whereby said rigging may be disconnected from one of saidmembers to rmit the separation of the parts of the bl-part base.

5. A'compactin head for wire covering machines embodying therein arotatable spindle-carrying platform and a die carried t ereby androtatable therewith including therein a bi-part base, means whereby theseparation of the arts of said base is er- -mitted, a die mem r mountedupon eac of said parts to have movement therewith andalso to havemovement toward and from each other independently thereof, said membershaving registering, graduated com lementary o nings therein, 0 positelyisposed brac ets carried by sai die members respectively, havinglaterally extending the diameter of .the covt ereby an arms, sprincarried by the arms of one of said brac ets, a slide connected with eachof said springs and entering a slot in the arms of the oppositely disosed bracket,

mitted, a die member mounted upon each of a said parts to have movementtherewith and also to have movement toward and from each otherindependently thereof, said members having registering, graduatedcomplementary openings therein, oppositely disposed brackets carried bysaid die members respectively, having laterally extending arms, slpringscarried by the arms of one of sai brackets, a screw-threaded slideconnected with each of said springs and entering a slotin thearms of theoppositely, disposed bracket, nuts co-operating with the screw-threadsof said slides res engaging the bracket in whic said slides are mounted,whereby said springs may be given any desired tension.

7. A compactin head for wire covering machines embodying therein arotatable indle-carr ing platform and a die carried t ereby androtatable therewith including a bi-part' base, die memberspivotallymounted upon the parts of said base respectively, whereby saidmembers have movement therewith and pivotal movement towards and fromeach other, independently thereof, said die members having registering,graduated complementary openings thereln, a ring riggmg operative uponeach of sai die members whereby they will be normally engaged, one withthe other but will automatically separate toaccommodate said die toirregularities in the diameter of the covered wire, and means-wherebythe parts of said base together. y

8. A compacting head for wire covering machines, embodying therein a.rotatable, indleca ing'platform and a die carried rotatable therewithincluding a bi-part base, die members pivotally mounted upon the partsof said base respectively, whereb said members have movement therewith,and pivotal movement towards and from each other independently thereof,said die member having registering, gradu ated complementary openingstherein, the largest diameter of which is adjacent said base andcomplementary, c lindrical openings into. which said gra uated openingsmerge said members each havin openings therethrough counicating wi saidcytively and l may be separated or brought lindrical openings, a springrigging opera- In witness whereof I have hereunto af- 10 tive upon saiddie members intermediate fixed my signature, in the presence of two saidbase and said cylindricalopenings wheresubscribing. witnesses, this 4thday of Octoby said members will be normally engaged, ber, 1921.

one with the other, but will automatically separate to accommodate saiddie to irreg- WILLIAM COOK ularities in the diameter of the coveredwire, Witnesses: and means whereby the parts of said base FRIEDAKOEHLER,

may be separated or brought together. SOPHIE M. BAEDER.

